Looper captures top award for scientists, engineers

story submitted by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith

Dr. Michael L. Looper of Greenwood is one of 85 researchers who will receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Looper, an adjunct faculty member at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, is a research animal scientist with the Agricultural Research Service at the Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville.

The Presidential Early Career Awards, announced Nov. 5 by the White House, embody the high priority the Obama Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers to advance the nation’s goals, tackle grand challenges and contribute to the American economy, the news release from the White House said.

Looper also received national recognition in early 2010 when he was named recipient of the Herbert L. Rothbart Outstanding Early Career Research Scientist of 2009 by the Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency. He joined the USDA-ARS in May 2002 and quickly established a research program that increased the current understanding of livestock management practices, especially concerning systematic approaches of animal production.

Ten federal departments and agencies join together annually to nominate the most meritorious scientists and engineers, ones who show the greatest promise for assuring American’s preeminence in science and engineering and contributing to the awarding agencies’ missions.

The awards, established by President Bill Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education or community outreach.

Winning scientists and engineers have received research grants for up to five years to further their studies in support of critical government missions.

Other recipients of the award include individuals from several federal organizations and numerous other educational institutions, including Harvard, Yale, University of Southern California, Princeton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and others.

Looper and the other recipients will be recognized in a yet-to-be-scheduled ceremony in Washington, D.C. He has emerged as a leader in this field, forming extensive partnerships with colleagues from other research units, Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Materials Center, state universities and other state or local organizations. Looper, who is invited regularly to speak throughout the United States, has more than 168 authored or co-authored publications.

He was first hired to teach in the Biological Sciences Department at UAFS in 2003, instructing anatomy/physiology and biological sciences courses. He has also presented ARS research to physiology classes at UAFS. Looper received the Luella M. Krehbiel Teaching Excellence Award in 2008, an award given to recognize the contributions of UA Fort Smith’s part-time faculty.

He has a master’s degree in animal sciences from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a doctorate in reproductive physiology from Oklahoma State University. Prior to being employed with the USDA, he was on the faculty at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.